


We Found Love in an Explosive Place

by MewlingQuim12



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Genre: BB-8 Ships It, M/M, Short Chapters, jealous!Poe, some language, starts right after The Last Jedi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-22 15:46:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13170093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MewlingQuim12/pseuds/MewlingQuim12
Summary: After Rose is injured in the fight on Crait, what remains of the Resistance finds their way to another old base, where they begin to regroup. Poe helps Finn deal with his guilt over Rose, and when all hell breaks loose, it doesn't go the way that Poe expects.





	1. Too Heroic

Poe took a deep breath, hesitating outside of the room in which Rose lay. Poe figured that Finn would be here. After all, this was the only place Finn ever went, nowadays.

“Hey, buddy,” Poe said in as bright of a tone as he could manage, swinging into the room with a smile. Finn, sitting in a seat next to Rose and clutching one of her hands, turned to look at Poe.

“Oh. Hey,” Finn said, giving Poe a small nod. Finn turned his eyes back to Rose, clutching her hand tighter.

Poe felt a burst of jealousy erupt in his stomach, but it was quickly drowned by guilt. He had nothing to be jealous of Rose for. She hadn’t woken up in three days now, ever since she crashed into Finn’s speeder. Finn was only hoping for his friend to have a speedy recovery. He would do the same if it were Poe lying in that bed.

Poe sighed, pulling himself back to reality.

“It’s not your fault, Finn,” Poe said, pulling up a chair next to him. Finn shrugged.

“I wish she had just let me go,” Finn murmured. “I could’ve ended all of this, and no one else would have been hurt.”

“Sometimes you’re too heroic for your own good, pal,” Poe said sadly. Finn looked up at him, confused.

“What? Did you ever think of what would’ve happened if Rose _had_ let you fly into that cannon?” Poe said, shifting on his chair to adjust his body towards Finn.

“Yeah, I did, as a matter of fact. You and General Leia would have been able to lead everyone to safety, and the First Order wouldn’t have been able to reach you. Rose would be okay. Everyone would be safe,” Finn replied.

“And you?” Poe retorted.

“I can be replaced,” Finn said.

“You can’t be replaced, Finn,” Poe said quickly. “Where would we find another Stormtrooper who has such a strong moral compass that he would willingly choose to defy the people who brainwashed him into killing people since he was a child? If you know anyone else like that, let me know.” Poe paused, watching Finn for a reaction. “And, if Rose had let you succeed, we’ll just pretend like Rey would’ve been fine after she figured out that you sacrificed yourself when she was just minutes away from helping us escape. Rose would never have been haunted for the rest of her life knowing that she could have prevented your death. Leia would have been okay with losing yet another one of the team-- a _crucial_ member of the team, to the First Order. And me…” Poe trailed off, suddenly fearing that he’d said too much. But it needed to be said. Finn had to stop feeling so guilty for what Rose had chosen to do.

“What?” Finn said, looking at Poe as if he were waiting for something.

“What?” Poe echoed.

“What about you?” Finn said.

Poe chuckled uneasily. “You know what I mean, man. You mean a lot to me. You’re my best friend. I definitely wouldn’t have been alright with you driving yourself into that cannon.”

Poe grimaced. He wanted to say so much more than that.

When he called Finn “buddy”, he felt as though he lost a year of his life. _It should be “baby.”_

When he told Finn that he meant a lot to him, it physically pained him. _It should be “I don’t think I could live without you.”_

When he told Finn that he was his best friend, it felt like he was lying. _It should be “I love you.”_

It could be “I love you.” But Poe would never risk their friendship. He may always regret that it never advanced into anything further, but he would much rather have what they did right now than have nothing at all.

Poe was serious when he thought that he couldn’t live without Finn.

And that scared the hell out of him.

Finn smiled and laid a hand on Poe’s arm.

“Thanks, Poe. You’re my best friend, too. I guess I am glad that Rose saved me from that cannon,” Finn said, turning to look at his unconscious friend once more. “I just wish that she would wake up.”

“I know,” Poe said, fighting the very prevalent urge to wrap an arm around Finn’s shoulders. “I know.”


	2. Together?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose wakes up, which affects Finn and Poe in different ways.

Rose finally woke up two days later.

Poe had heard Finn shouting for a doctor, and had immediately ran and retrieved a nearby nurse.

When Poe and the nurse had got back to Rose’s room, they saw that her eyes were open and she had a small smile on her face.

“Finn,” she said. “You’re okay.”

Finn smiled back at her like she was his whole world. He was blinking rapidly.

“Yeah, I’m okay, Rose. I’m okay. And you are too. You’re okay,” Finn said gently, rubbing her hand with both of his own.

Poe turned to the nurse. “Is she going to be alright?”

The nurse looked glad to have something to do. “Well, her vitals are steady, and her injuries seem to be healing nicely. She should only have to stay here for a couple more days, and then she should be fine, although it may take a little while before she can walk normally again.”

The nurse turned to Rose. “But I would advise that you stay away from any more speeders, for now,” she said.

Rose smiled. “I have no intention of returning to one anytime soon, ma’am.”

“That’s probably for the best,” the nurse said, with a smile.

“Thank you,” Finn croaked. The nurse nodded, gave Poe a small smile, and left the room.

“Hey, Rose,” Poe said. “I’m glad to see you awake.” And he meant it. Even if he wasn’t the one that Finn was smiling at, Finn was still smiling, which was more than he could say for the past week. And that wasn’t nothing.

“Thanks, Poe,” she said, with another smile. Her eyes drifted back to Finn. “So… what did I miss?”

******

“Hey, Poe!” Finn called, following him out of Rose’s room. She’d just fallen back asleep after they’d filled her in on what she had missed over the past few days, and Poe had had to leave anyways. He had to go lead a training session for new pilots that they’d recently recruited, and he didn’t want to be late.

Poe stopped in his tracks. For anyone else, he may not have stopped. But, Finn? He was an exception. (And General Leia, he supposed. If Poe didn’t stop for her, she’d kick his ass.)

“Hey, what’s up?” Poe said, running a hand through his hair.

“Well, I was kind of wondering… this may be a little weird, but I was wondering if you had any ideas for a gift to give to Rose. You know, kind of as a ‘thanks for saving my life’ present. What could I give her that would even come close to showing much she did for me?” Finn asked. Poe’s jealousy was ebbed away by just how compassionate Finn was. Those Stormtroopers had no idea what kind of person they were trying to brainwash when they first recruited Finn into the First Order.

Poe smiled begrudgingly. “Oh, that’s a tough one. I don’t know… I guess flowers wouldn’t exactly do the job, huh?”

Finn chuckled. “Exactly.”

Poe hesitated before asking his next question.

“Well… are you guys… you know… _together_?”

Finn frowned. “No.” Poe let out a breath he didn’t know that he’d been holding.

“Well, I don’t think so, at least. I mean, she kissed me before she passed out. But I don’t really feel anything romantic towards her,” Finn said. Poe nodded stiffly. _Good_ , he thought. But just because Finn wasn’t particularly interested in Rose didn’t mean that he would be interested in him. Finn probably wasn’t even gay, for crying out loud! (Although one could hope…)

“Wait a second,” Finn said, suddenly taking Poe by the shoulders. “Does she _expect_ me to bring her a romantic gift? Does _she_ think that we’re… together?” Finn said. He released Poe’s shoulders and began pacing back and forth. “Oh no. This is not good. This is _not_ good…”

“Finn. Buddy.” _Another year off his lifespan._ “You’re overthinking this. All you’ve gotta get her is flowers or something, nothing life-changing. I’m sure that she’s not expecting any gift. After all, you’re alive, and that’s the best gift that you could give her,” Poe said, with a smile.

“Really?” Finn said, pausing in his pacing.

“Yeah, really,” Poe replied. “Now I’ve gotta get to my training session, but seriously, don’t worry about it.”

“Thanks, Poe,” Finn said. He smirked. “Go show those amateurs how it’s done.”


	3. The Jacket

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Poe have a chat after Poe's training session.

“Nice work, everybody,” Poe called out, after the training session had finished. Poe wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket and sat down next to his X-wing. The trainees slowly filed out of the bunker, excitedly chatting with one another. He watched them go with a smile on his face. It had gone better than Poe had expected, especially for a group of kids that were learning to fly for the first time.

Poe’s thoughts were interrupted by angry beeping from above him.

“Sorry, buddy,” he said, standing up and lifting BB-8 out of the back of the X-wing. “I forgot.”

BB-8 gave him a few choice words.

“Alright, alright! It was one time!” Poe said, shaking his head.

He sat back down on the floor, and BB-8 slowly rolled over to sit next to him. BB-8 made what could only be described as a robotic chuckle, and beeped some more.

“‘Here comes dream boy’? BB-8, what the hell does that--”

“Oh, hey Poe!” Finn said, coming around the corner of the X-wing. Poe glared at BB-8 before standing up and brushing off his pilot uniform. BB-8 rolled away, but not without leaving them with a snide _“I’ll leave you lovebirds alone.”_

“What’d he say?” Finn asked, watching BB-8 spin away.

“Oh, nothing, he was just saying how he hasn’t seen you in a while. Anyways, what’s-- hey, is that my jacket?” Poe said, grabbing the sleeve of Finn’s jacket.

“Yeah, it is. I had to wear it, especially after you’d gone through all that work patching it up for me,” Finn said, with a grin. He playfully flexed his muscles, maintaining eye contact with Poe the whole time.

“And it looks better on me, anyways,” Finn continued, smirking.

“Yeah it does,” Poe replied, without hesitation. He bit his lip as Finn laughed, but thankfully, he didn't seem to be reading into it too much.

“How’d the training go?” Finn asked.

“Oh, it went well. Everyone came through unscathed, which is better than I was hoping for after the first lesson,” Poe said, trying to pull his eyes away from Finn’s jacket, which just fit his toned arms so well...

“Hey, that’s a win! Oh, and by the way, I was wondering if you would wanna grab some lunch?” Finn asked.

Poe grinned. _That almost sounded like he was asking me out._ “Yeah, sure. I’ve got no plans.”

“Okay, cool,” Finn said, matching Poe’s grin.

“And after, we can visit Rose, if you want,” Poe said. She had saved Finn’s life, after all. And Poe felt as though, by doing so, she’d saved his too.


	4. First Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Poe are interrupted by none other than the First Order.

“--and he just didn’t get it! He just kept saying ‘yes, this is Hux’ over and over again! And then I mentioned his mom, and he got so offended…” Poe said, pausing in order to catch his breath. Finn was nearly bent over double laughing.

“You… you just… he’s a First Order General, and you just….” Finn began, but he couldn’t get any more than a few words into his sentence before he lost it again. Poe was delighted that he was able to bring such joy to Finn. He wanted to be able to hear that laugh every day for the rest of his life.

When Poe had signed up for the Resistance, he had no idea that he’d ever be as happy as he was right now. Both of them deserved this, though. Finally, a break.

It was at that moment, however, that Poe realized that he’d become a little too optimistic for their current state. Alarms began blaring throughout the room, and everyone shot up from their seats and raced for the exits. Poe and Finn quickly followed, abandoning their roasted Porg meals on the table behind them.

“What’s going on?” Finn hollered over the alarm.

“I have no idea!” Poe yelled back. He took Finn by the arm. “Quick, we need to get to the control room.” Finn nodded gravely.

Suddenly, Poe caught sight of a small orange shape darting through people’s legs.

“What is it, BB-8?” Poe asked the droid, once it had stopped in front of them.

“ _It’s the First Order, they’ve found us_ ,” BB-8 beeped.

“Dammit, how?” Poe yelled, but BB-8 didn’t know.

“What is it, Poe?” Finn said, chasing after them.

“First Order,” Poe yelled back. It was only then when he realized that he was still gripping Finn’s arm, but he had no intention of letting go.

“Oh, come on!” Finn shouted.

They finally made it to the control room, where Leia was prepping everyone on the situation.

“About time, Poe!” she said, but she looked more concerned than angry. “As I was saying, somehow, the First Order managed to find our location, but they haven’t penetrated any of our defenses yet. I need our pilots to follow Captain Dameron to the bunker, and I need everyone else to follow me to the barracks. We need a defense, and we need it fast.”

The room was full of 'yes, ma’am’s, and everyone was off, moving in separate directions.

“Finn, FINN!” Poe yelled, when Finn began running in a different direction than everyone else. “Where the hell--”

“Rose! She’s not safe--” Finn yelled, as there was a large crash on the roof above.

Poe shook his head. “Ah, shit.”

“PILOTS!” Poe turned and yelled. “You know the way to the bunker! If I’m not back within a few minutes, you know what to do!”

“You didn’t have to do that,” Finn yelled, but Poe shook his head.

“I’m not leaving you again,” Poe said. “Look what happened last time!” Finn turned and looked at him, but Poe only gave him a small smile before following him down the hall to Rose’s room.

When they got there, Rose was attempting to pull herself up from the bed, but she was struggling. Finn rushed to her side and began explaining their situation. When it became evident that she couldn’t walk on her own, Finn swept her into his arms.

 _Now is_ not _the time to feel aroused._

“We can bring her to the Falcon!” Poe yelled. Finn nodded, and they ran back out into the hall. They began running towards the bunker, where the Falcon was stored, when they happened across Rey. She was standing in the empty hall, intently staring at something that none of the rest of them could see.

“Rey, what are you doing?” Finn yelled.

Rey didn’t seem to hear him.

“Let me go, you bastard!” she yelled, reaching behind her with her right arm.

Poe stepped forward, moving in front of her in order to attempt to break through to her.

“Hey! Rey? Can you hear me?” Poe yelled, waving his hand in front of her face.

“No. I won’t,” Rey said menacingly. All of a sudden, Finn jumped out of the way of something, and Rey was clutching a lightsaber in her hand.

“POE!” Finn yelled, and Poe ducked down as Rey swung the lightsaber at whatever she was communicating with. Poe felt the heat of the lightsaber narrowly pass over his head.

“REY! Hey, you’ve gotta listen to me, here!” Poe yelled.

“I said, NO!” she shouted, swinging the lightsaber once more, this time impaling it in the wall. There was another loud boom from above, and the room shook.

Rey suddenly seemed to snap out of whatever trance she was in. She looked around, confused, and put away the lightsaber.

“Guys?”

“We have to get out of here, NOW!” Poe yelled. “The First Order found us!”

Rey paled, but nevertheless nodded and began following them down the hall.

When they arrived at the bunker, Poe ran up into the cockpit of the Falcon, and began starting everything up. The rest of the X-wings had already been taken out of the bunker, save for one lone ship. _His_. Poe could see the bright orange color of BB-8 below.

“Rey, you can fly this thing, right?” Poe asked.

“Yeah, but why? Where are you going?” she said.

“I have a droid to get,” Poe said. “I’ll be right back,” he called, passing Finn on his way up the ramp to the Falcon.

Poe ran down, calling to BB-8. The droid perked up when it heard Poe’s voice, and began rolling its way towards the Falcon. Another loud boom resonated through the bunker.

As soon as BB-8 was inside, Poe yelled to Rey. “NOW!”

They lifted into the air and flew out of the bunker, only to be met with a fleet of enemy ships raining fire down on the few remaining X-wings.

_Will they ever let us catch a break?_


	5. Warzone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The four of them fly the Falcon into the battle, but it seems like it may be too late.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Poe murmured, as he made it back into the cockpit. It was not looking good for the Resistance. Not at all. They were outnumbered and outgunned and taken by surprise. They were not making it out alive this time.

“Finn, you and I will take the guns,” Poe said. Finn nodded, gently laid Rose down, and followed Poe down the ladder that led to the guns.

_Not the time to stare at his ass._

“Do you think Rey’s alright?” Finn yelled to Poe, as they both settled into their seats. Only Finn would be worrying about someone else as they were headed into a warzone.

“I can hear you, Finn, and I’m _fine_!” Rey shouted from the cockpit. Poe smirked.

“This isn’t looking too good for us,” Poe murmured, as he gunned down a T.I.E. fighter.

“How did they even find us?” Finn called back, as he exploded a fighter of his own.

“I have no idea,” Poe answered. “But they did.”

For every T.I.E. fighter that they shot down, another ten seemed to show up. They were fighting a losing battle.

The Falcon shook as it was hit with a direct shot.

“Everything good up there, Rey?” Poe yelled.

“Fine, thank you!” she called back. “Lucky shot!”

BB-8 confirmed that nothing critical was damaged.

However, within seconds, they were hit again. And again. It seemed as if the fire was now focused primarily on their ship.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Rey yelled, and the ship began spinning downwards. The lights flickered on and off, and BB-8 was beeping his head off.

“REY?” Finn yelled, and Poe heard him start ascending the ladder to check on her.

They were steadily approaching the ground, at far too fast a speed.

“Shit,” Poe cursed again. “What is going on up there?”

Suddenly, they were hit by another shot, and Finn yelled as he was thrown off the ladder. He hit the floor with a thud.

“SHIT!” Poe yelled, finally abandoning his gun to check on Finn. He seemed to have hit his head pretty hard. He was out cold.

“ROSE? REY? ANYBODY?” Poe screamed, as the trees below them began to come within focus.

Suddenly, the Falcon righted itself, and Rey yelled back: “Like I said, _I’m fine_!”

Poe shook his head, fussing over Finn. “C’mon, buddy, wake up,” he murmured. And then, in a whisper so low that he could barely hear himself say it, “C’mon, _baby_.”

Finn began to stir. His eyelids fluttered open, and he sat up, rubbing his head.

“Poe?”

“Oh, thank God. Yes, Finn, it’s me,” Poe said, sighing in relief. He helped Finn stand up.

“We’re all going to die,” Finn murmured, as he caught sight of the explosions around them.

“No, we’re not,” Poe said, although he had to agree with Finn. The chances of them coming out of this alive...

“Hey, can I have some firepower down there?” Rey yelled. The Falcon swerved, and Poe suddenly found himself pinned against a wall by Finn. Poe’s heart sped up at the close proximity. As more ships exploded around them, Poe was seized by a sudden sense of recklessness, and decided to abandon all regard for embarrassment.

“Hey, Finn, if we do die right now, I just wanted to say… I love you,” Poe whispered. He forced himself to look into Finn’s warm brown eyes. Poe was pleasantly surprised to see Finn looking right back at him with a huge smile on his face.

“I know,” Finn replied, and closed the small distance between them. Poe couldn’t believe that this was happening. This was happening. _He was kissing Finn_.

_Finn was kissing him._

Finn pulled away with an abashed smile on his face. Poe was shocked, and reached up to feel his lips as if he were in a trance.

“WHY THE HELL AREN’T YOU TWO SHOOTING DOWN THERE?” Rey yelled, once more.

“Right…” Finn murmured, running back to his gun.

“Right…” Poe murmured, and ran back to his own.

Poe aimed at the T.I.E. fighters with a renewed energy. _He just kissed Finn. He just kissed Finn. He just kissed Finn._

And maybe they were going to die. But if they were, then so be it.

He kissed _Finn_.


	6. Each Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle settles down without a clear winner, but the Resistance doesn't come through unscathed, either.

As a matter of fact, there weren’t as many T.I.E. fighters as Poe had thought. Minutes after the kiss, the fight seemed to be dying down, and both sides began retreating, suffering from numerous casualties.

Rey steered the Falcon back to the bunker, and only three other X-wings landed with it. Although Poe was delighted at how things had turned out with Finn, a heavy cloud of loss was weighing down on him. How many of the pilots, the _kids_ that he had just been instructing this afternoon, had gone up in flames?

Finn and Poe climbed up the ladder and regrouped with the others in the cockpit. Finn went over to see how Rose was doing, and Poe went to check on Rey.

“Hey, you’re a hell of a pilot, Rey,” Poe said. Rey gave him a small smile. “But, I have to ask… what is going on with you? You know, with--”

“I know,” Rey responded, the smile fading from her face. She took a deep breath. “It’s Kylo. When Snoke was alive, he forged some kind of bond between the two of us, and I guess I thought it would die when he did, but it didn’t. And Kylo keeps trying to communicate with me. He thinks that I’ll turn to his side. But I won’t. I won’t.”

Poe nodded solemnly. “Is that… how they found us?”

Rey flushed. “No. I don’t think so. He said that he could only see me, not any of my surroundings.” She paused, looking at Finn and Rose. “I hope not.”

“I’m sure that they found us some other way. Anyways, thanks for saving us with your flying out there. You really do know how to work wonders with this thing,” Poe said, gesturing to the Falcon.

“Thanks. I hope that she’s alright,” Rey said, glancing at Finn and Rose.

“I’m sure she will be,” Poe said, seeing her smile at Finn. At that moment, Finn looked up from her and turned to smile at Poe.

“What’s going on with the two of you?” Rey asked, suspicion creeping into her voice.

“What? Me and Finn? Nothing,” Poe said hastily. Rey gave him a skeptical look before walking down towards the ramp leading off the Falcon.

“Yeah. Sure,” she said, rolling her eyes. She paused in front of Rose and Finn and asked Rose if she could help her out. Rose nodded, and allowed herself to be walked off the ship.

Once Rose and Rey had cleared out, Finn walked over to Poe.

“So…” Finn began, looking anywhere but Poe’s face. “That was something, huh?”

“Which ‘something’ are you referring to?” Poe asked, with a grin.

“I was referring to the fight, Poe,” Finn said, but not without a smile of his own. He suddenly became serious, sitting down in one of the seats inside the cockpit. “When will this all end?”

Poe sat next to him, taking one of Finn’s hands in his own. They remained silent for a moment, looking at their joined hands.

“I don’t know,” Poe said, looking at Finn. He thought of the dead pilots once more, and squeezed his eyes shut. Finn clutched their hands tighter, looking at Poe with concern. Poe took a deep breath and focused on how Finn's hand felt in his grasp. He imagined that he could feel every cell thrumming with life, and the Force, and _Finn_.

“It will end, Finn," Poe said. "Eventually. It has to. But in the meantime… we’ve got each other.”

“We’ve got each other," Finn echoed, nodding solemnly.

And with a small smile on both their mouths, they met lips once more.


End file.
